Showing results by author "Joanne DeMaio" in All Categories

New England in December is a special world. Wreath-topped lampposts shine, balsam garland drapes across picket fences, and fresh snow dusts the land. Then there are the decorated houses: saltboxes, Victorians, farmhouses, Tudors. Tiny lights shimmer on front porches; candles glow in paned windows. But one imposing stone colonial towers dark in the night. Since moving to town, Millie Ives has heard hushed whisperings of that house - and of the mysterious man who lives and works there. A chance happening leads Millie to this Mr. Winter's spellbinding shop just past the bell tower.

Harry Dane lives an ordinary life. From his days working alongside his father at a New England general store to Harry's endearing and heartbreaking relationships to sudden snowstorms to quirky fiascoes of found kittens and spilled jam jars, always...always, there is a curious constant. Through it all, each and every winter, a Christmas card arrives at Harry's Craftsman bungalow from a mysterious woman named Sadie Welles.

After years of pursuing a denim design career, Maris Carrington never imagined trading her Chicago studio for a New England shingled cottage. But a forgotten home movie tucked inside a dusty attic box leads to an unexpected summer ... One of uncovering family secrets while settling her father's estate, one of inheriting a forlorn German shepherd, one of reconnecting with old friends on a weathered boardwalk, beneath starlit skies on a beach nestled in a crook of the Connecticut coast.

How do you know when it's good-bye? When something's over. When it's the last perfect day of the summer. When it's the last time you'll see a face, hear a voice. The last time you'll close a shingled cottage's door. How do you know when you'll never be somewhere again, that you've had your last glimpse of a certain sea? For the tangled cast of beach friends in Stony Point, it's a question some of them face. Because as the golden late-summer sun shines, good-byes are due. But to whom?

Frank Lombardo's never been spontaneous. The closest he's come was accepting a side job chopping firewood for a lakeside community of rustic cabins. But with another lonely holiday season imminent, Frank's sister urges him to be spontaneous because, seriously, who does he ever expect to meet out in the woods?

With a suitcase in hand and a bit of reluctance, too, Penny Hart arrives at Cardinal Cabin on Snowflake Lake. It's only for a brief stay, though nobody knows where she is. Not her boss, not her friends....

Only Frank Lombardo.

Shane Bradford has to make a decision. It won't be easy since there are plenty of consequences either way. He has to gauge the risk, the reward. He also has to act fast—second nature to him as a New England lobsterman. The clock is ticking. Every minute counts. So as the golden beach grasses sway, as Long Island Sound's lazy waves roll in, as the gulls call, as the tides turn, he decides. But at what cost?

Jason and Maris. To the residents of Stony Point, they're simply known as the Barlows. Their home is a shingled New England cottage on the bluff, where salt air breezes stir and gulls cry and spirits roam. But like wisps of sea fog, darkness has touched upon their lives this summer. Will light and love return to their old weathered cottage by the sea?

Sara Beth and Rachel have been wishing on stars for as long as they've been friends. Sharing wishes and cups of coffee, they've stitched pieces of their lives together like a soft patchwork quilt of friendship they thought they'd hold close forever. But while celebrating their birthdays one weekend in Manhattan, Sara Beth makes a life-altering decision. Excusing herself to use the ladies' room during lunch, she disappears, slipping the waiter a note to pass along, asking Rachel to cover for her.

Blue skies and smooth seas return to the coastal community of Stony Point. Until a new arrival in this little New England beach town sets forth a competition like no other. As the temperature rises beneath the summer sun, so do the antics and good-natured fun.

You know them on a first-name basis. Jason. Maris. Elsa. Shane. Celia. Kyle. Lauren and the rest of the Stony Point beach crew. So catch up on the enchanted evening sand and join your favorite friends on the Connecticut shore. In this deftly woven novel, love, secrets, and surprises are in store.

In the New England beach town of Stony Point, everyone is waiting for something. Or someone. They're waiting for an answer. Waiting for something to believe in. Waiting for the right time. Waiting for a friend. Some are waiting to come home. Others are waiting to make a move. Then, there's that shabby coastal table at twilight, awaiting a secret dinner guest. And The Seaside Saga continues.

Every cottage tells a story. It's a saying Jason Barlow returns to as an architect designing New England beach homes. The latest cottage story he hopes to tell rises from the Stony Point sand: the last cottage standing on the beach. It's the sole survivor - something Jason can relate to - as surrounding cottages washed out to sea in long-ago hurricanes. The owners aren't budging, though, keeping Jason's proposed renovation at bay. The cottage holds secrets darker than its gray, seaworn shingles. And secrets don't stay buried in this little Connecticut beach town.

Salt air drifts in through the windows. Swaying marsh grasses whisper. Seagulls cry overhead. Off the docks, rowboats are anchored in a calm inlet. Beyond, shingled cottages look silver beneath rays of sunlight. Seafood shacks are strung with fishing net and lobster buoys. You're driving on Shore Road.

Jane March's greeting cards have lost their jingle. While worried about her job at New England's Cobblestone Cards, she stumbles upon a forgotten box of her mother's nostalgic paintings. They depict small-town Addison's covered bridge and red barns and picket-fenced colonials. If only Jane's designs could capture the same heart. When her mother shows her how with a Christmas to-do list of memories in the making, Jane gets checking.

In the dark of a summer night, everything can change. A moment can tip on edge. The salt air might stir. Or still. The waves might roll in. Or recede. A heart might fill. Or break. In two different cottages, the night is coming undone. As the sun sinks into the sea, as evening presses in, the summer calm is broken. Until an unexpected visitor arrives.

Everything was in place for the perfect beachside gathering. Lace-wrapped jars hung from white chairs on the sand. Paper lanterns and tiki torches glimmered in the twilight evening. A rowboat draped with roses and vines waited in the wings. Love floated on the salt air. Until the arrival of a mysterious guest named Shane Bradford, a lobsterman with a tangled past in this little New England beach town. Like a sudden sea breeze, the special evening quickly turns. And the residents of Stony Point must tread the darker water Shane brings to their Night Beach.

Home, for Joel Briggs, is the old New England farmhouse on winter road. From the front porch, he listens to the barred owls or watches the towering Christmas tree lit up in the yard. It's a quiet road, kind of like his life. Quiet. Until Faye Weston walks right into it.

Every summer has a story. That couldn't be more true for Jason and Maris Barlow, the Bradford brothers, soon-to-be innkeepers Elsa and Celia, and the rest of The Seaside Saga cast. But this particular summer is leaving its mark on the New England beach town of Stony Point. As lone lobsterman Shane settles in for another week at his rented bungalow by the sea, emotional tides turn. Relationships come unmoored. Secret love affairs surface. Family bonds are tested.

Dune grasses sway atop the Barlows' craggy bluff. Hidden past a narrow path, there is a rickety stairway going down, down, down to the sea. Even in its neglect, the stairway is beautiful, with its sweeping views of Long Island Sound. Depending on the tides, those stairs lead to a tiny secluded beach. But for years, the stairs have been nearly forgotten. Until now.

Jason and Maris, Shane and Celia, Elsa and the rest of the tangled cast of beach friends are back in their coastal New England town. A novel of summers sad and sweet, this episode further layers the ongoing storyline, as blue skies, lapping waves and swaying dune grasses belie all the drama to unfold.